Catalytic particulate traps are frequently used with diesel engines to trap and combust particulate materials and prevent the emission of the particulate material to the atmosphere. The conventional particulate trap is formed of a gas permeable material, such as compressed stainless steel mesh, which is coated with a catalytic agent, such as a noble metal. As exhaust gas flows through the trap, the particulate material will be caught or trapped and at high temperatures the particulate material will be burned off.
The conventional particulate trap includes an outer casing having an internal divider wall which divides the casing into an inlet and outlet chamber. The divider wall is formed with a plurality of openings and a series of cylindrical catalytic units are disposed in the outlet chamber, with one end of each unit being mounted in one of the openings in the divider wall, while the opposite end of each cylindrical unit is closed. The exhaust gas entering the inlet chamber will flow through the openings in the divider wall into the interior of the cylindrical units and then flow outwardly through the units to the outlet chamber. In flowing outwardly through the cylindrical units, the particulate material will be trapped and at high temperature will be burned off.
In the conventional catalytic trap, the cylindrical units are supported from the divider wall by internal metal supports or spiders which merely function to internally support the cylindrical traps, but provide no sound attenuation function.